


Just Around A Corner Or Two

by HookedonCS



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One-Shot, Tumblr Prompt, how to say "I love you" without saying the words, middle school teachers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 09:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5000257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HookedonCS/pseuds/HookedonCS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How to say "I love you" with the words "I was in the neighborhood."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Around A Corner Or Two

“Hiya, Mr. Jones.”  


Killian offered the eighth grader one of his patented safe smiles that still had the ability to drive the middle school girls wild.  


“Good morning, Chelsea,” he murmured as he made his way past her.  


“See you later in class,” she offered sweetly, holding on tightly to the notebook she held to her chest.  


“Yes, soon.” The glow in her eyes wasn’t lost on him. Teenage girls. He fought the urge to shake his head as he continued on to the classroom he had been searching out.  


The English class was situated an entire hallway from his own classroom. Making the trip took considerable ingenuity on his part. Really, what business did the visual arts teacher have being anywhere near the English teacher? Well, that was where the ingenuity came into play…  


Weaving himself through the throng of students, Killian looked down at his watch. The bell would be ringing within the next five minutes. He was running late for his morning rendezvous. He should’ve been on the other side of the building, preparing himself for his own day. Instead, he leaned against the Emma Swan’s English classroom, peering inside.  


Her class was already filling up, students lounging across the room.  


Killian stood up straight, pushing himself away from the door as he looked across the room. It wasn’t the students who were holding his attention, but the only other adult who graced the space. Standing over Emma’s desk, the young woman busied herself with the shuffling of papers that must have been of great importance. At least by how attentive she was with them.  


“Mr. Jones.”  


Killian turned his attention towards the young and fresh voice. He encountered an entire group of girls with bright smiles on their face.  


“Good morning, girls,” he greeted them with a nod.  


“Good morning.” The grin was kept at a minimum. “Um, you’re looking for Ms. Swan?”  


His eyes crossed over the group, taking in each of the four girls.  


“Yes.” Killian felt the tug of his eyebrows falling. “Do you know-“  


“She’s not here today,” another student informed him.  


“Yeah, we have a sub,” one more added.  


Killian bit down on his lip and nodded quickly. “Oh, okay.” He took a step back. “Thanks for letting me know.” He turned his attention to the one woman in the classroom, now taking her as the substitute who was in Emma’s place.  


“No problem,” another voice assured him.  


His lips pursed as he looked at the students. He gave another quick nod, turned the pursed lips into a tight smile, then turned away from the small group.  


He eyes narrowed on the sub. Walking over to where she stood at Emma’s desk, he put himself beside her.  


“Good morning.” It was a quiet murmur to only get her attention.  


“Oh, good morning.”  


Killian’s fingers came up to swipe across his lip.  


“I was wondering if… you knew why a sub was needed for Ms. Swan’s class this morning.”  


The young substitute tilted her head to the side, her eyes blinking at him.  


“It was a last minute thing,” she told him. “Apparently, she is a little under the weather and chose to stay home.” She offered a quick shrug with a tiny smile. “Three-day weekend, it seems like.”  


Emma was sick? He had noticed a sniffle yesterday, but…  


Killian nodded his head at her. “Okay. Thanks for that bit of info.” He then smiled at her, one of his more dashing smiles, he knew. “Have a great day today. These kids are wonderful.” He offered her a quick wink as he stepped away from her.  


Her smile was dazzling. “Thank you. You, too.”  


Sweeping across the span of the classroom just once more, Killian made his way back out of the room and into the hallway. His thoughts were already running together.  


A Friday without the chance at seeing Emma Swan? There wasn’t something quite right about that…  


****  


All she wanted to do was curl up on the couch with her comforter and stay there for at least the rest of the afternoon. She didn’t have a fever. She wasn’t throwing up at every minute. The headache had been taken care of by the aspirin she’d taken that morning. It didn’t mean that she wanted to do anything other than be on the couch.  


Emma hugged the comforter even closer to her, accommodating for the moving remote in her hand. It felt like a Grey’s Anatomy catchup kind of a day. What it didn’t seem like was a visitor kind of day…  


The doorbell ringing at this time of day was surprising and out of character. Her car was in the garage, so who would have expected her to be home.  


Closing her eyes and taking in a quick breath, she contemplated with actually answering or not. It was probably the accompanying knock that did it.  


Bracing herself for the cool breeze she knew she would receive, Emma threw the comforter back against the couch. Her body protested to the move, prompting her to give a quick stretch of all her muscles.  


Maybe she had been a bit presumptuous… Grabbing at the comforter again, she wrapped it back around herself and began making her way towards the door.  


****  


Killian couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face when that door opened. The blanket was thick and fluffy, covering up a good-sized portion of her.  


“Killian!” The surprise could be seen in the slightly plump/swollen lips and in the wide and red-rimmed eyes. Emma Swan looked beautiful. “What are you doing here?”  


Killian licked at his lips, watching her closely as he attempted to keep the smile at a minimum.  


“I was in the neighborhood,” he explained brightly.  


Even through the sick haze, Emma’s gaze softened. Holding on to the blanket with a tight fist, she tilted her head as she looked at him.  


“That would be easier to belief if, number one, it wasn’t the middle of a school day or two, if you lived anywhere near this neighborhood.” Her head turned again as her brow lifted.  


Killian offered her a quick shrug. “Perhaps the truth of the matter is that I was worried about you, and chose to do the one thing that wouldn’t leave my head: come and check and you.”  


Her smile was tremulous as her fingers lifted to cover her lips. Her once-watery eyes crinkled in the corners as she looked up at him.  


“Killian…” She stepped back away from the doorway, bringing the door with her. “Would you like to come in?”  


His smile didn’t quite match hers, but the sentiment that he knew was coursing through them both had to have been.  


“Well, since I am in the neighborhood.”  


Emma shook her head as she watched him enter into the house.  


“You are so silly for this,” she murmured up at him.  


She was wrapped up in his arms in the matter of two seconds, with thoughts of not letting her go.


End file.
